Coastlink to play it cool in
Dunkerque
Coastlink Annual Conference 2009
Chambre de Commerce, Port of Dunkerque
24 & 25 September
2009
In association with the Port of Dunkerque, Coastlink
will be staging its Annual Conference in the French port on September 24/25.
There is expected to be a strong emphasis on transport links between the North
of Europe and the Mediterranean and for the first time, the potential market
for the reefer container in European supply chain systems will be examined in
depth.
Other issues to be discussed include French port
reform, collaboration between shippers to encourage more shortsea/multimodal
services and the development of new shortsea and rail services between North
Europe and the Mediterranean.
Coastlink's Chairman, David Cheslin, believes that
Dunkerque will prove a popular location given that so many companies have cut
travel budgets to the bone:
"Most delegates coming from France, Belgium,
the Netherlands and Germany will probably drive to Dunkerque. We expect UK
participants to do the same, taking advantage of the competitive rates being
offered by the ferry operators.
"Hotels in Dunkerque are reasonably priced
and there are no charges for parking on the street.
"Other travel options include rail and air
with good rail connections from Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris airports to
Dunkerque via Lille."
Coastlink conferences are noted for the networking
opportunities they provide and the programme will allow ample time for
delegates to meet. Furthermore, the Port of Dunkerque has extended an
invitation to all conference delegates to participate in its Annual Golf Day,
to be held on Saturday, 26 September.
There are however five conference sessions that offer
a range of presentations that should be both informative and controversial.
Session One is entitled "A time of change" and will
review progress on French port reform. How will the changes affect port users?
Will they provide investment opportunities for private investment, perhaps from
global terminal operators like Hutchison, PSA, APM Terminals and ICTSI?
Session Two continues the "Collaboration" theme,
which started at Coastlink's Gothenburg conference 12 months ago and continued
in Tallinn in May 2009. Progress is being made on this front, notably in the
UK, but conference delegates will also hear about examples of collaboration
between shippers and other collaboration initiatives where ports are acting as
catalysts.
Session Three will focus on the growing number of
refrigerated containers now moving on shortsea and multimodal services,
especially out of the Mediterranean region. There is a great deal of innovation
taking place in this sector with multimodal and shortsea services actively
competing with each other and against road hauliers, assisted by the use of new
45ft palletwide reefers.
The fact that more and more temperature controlled
cargoes are moving in reefer containers using shortsea/multimodal services is a
testimony to the increased reliability of these transport modes. As many
shippers whose cargoes are far less time sensitive still worry about the
reliability of multimodal/shortsea transport, Coastlink believes that everyone
involved in European transport, not just those for whom the reefer business is
important or even relevant, will benefit from hearing these case studies.
Session Four also sees Coastlink looking southwards.
Shortsea links between the Mediterranean and North Europe appear to be on the
increase again after a period of decline. Parallel to this is the development
by established shortsea multimodal operators of new rail routes between
Northern Europe and East Mediterranean destinations such as Greece and Turkey.
How do the rail and sea alternatives compare?
Session Five looks at port developments as they affect
shortsea shipping. The challenges related to mixing shortsea, deepsea and
feeder vessels on the same terminal, is certain to be a focus point.
The Coastlink Annual Conference 2009 programme will be
finalised shortly and will be published on www.coastlink.co.uk before the end
of July.
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For further information, please contact:
David Cheslin on tel: +44 20 7345 5233.
E-mail:
davidcheslin@coastlink.co.uk.
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